Calculate the price of your order

CHESAPEAKE COLONIES ASSIGNMENT

CHESAPEAKE COLONIES ESSAY

Indentured servitude began one decade after the settlement in Jamestown by the Virginia Corporation in 1607. As you mention, the idea of the labor system was born from the need of cheap workers for the tobacco plantations, which were the backbone of the Chesapeake Colonies. The servants worked for four to seven years for passage, a place to stay, freedom dues, and food. While the indentured servants were protected by the law from restrictive and harsh practices, they were also punished harsher than non-servants for misdemeanor.[1] In most cases, their labor contracts would be extended if they broke the law by running away or getting pregnant. For those who managed to complete their contracts, they lived better lives compared to the immigrants who came to the country out of their own accord. This is because the indentured servants received acres of land, livestock, new clothes, and a year worth of corn.

It is apparent that a lot of discrimination existed in the Chesapeake Colonies. The colonists established a patriarchal society where the men had authority over their wives, children, and servants. Women were treated as non-citizens, regardless of whether they were White, because they were perceived as inferior to the men. The wives of the indentured servants were required to labor with their husbands in the fields. Unmarried women, on the other hand, with land could engage in business activities just as the men.

Majority of the White indentured men were immigrants brought into the country by the first settlers of Jamestown in the Virginia Company. By working as indentured servants, they paid off the amount of money used to pay for their passage and labored enough to receive the appropriate sendoff assets once they fulfilled their contracts.[2] However, very

[1] “Indentured Servants In The U.S.” Public Broadcasting Service: History Detectives, accessed March 10, 2019. http://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/feature/indentured-servants-in-the-us/

For over five years now, we have consistently offered quality custom writing service to students worldwide. Whatever kind of a research paper you want, just place your order and we shall have you sorted.